Watch: President Biden meets Chinese President Xi at Filoli Historic House in San Francisco Bay Area
Security was extremely tight at a secluded estate on the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula for Wednesday's high-stakes meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering.
The meeting between the two superpower leaders was at the Filoli Historic House & Garden in Woodside. Mr. Biden was scheduled to hold a solo press conference following the meeting, aimed at improving relations between the world's two largest economies.
Demonstrators lined some of the roads leading to the estate and the California Highway Patrol and local police blocked access to the country estate and museum about 25 miles south of San Francisco. The demonstrators included groups protesting against the Chinese government and counter-protesters showing support for the Chinese president.
Members of the press were allowed inside the venue for opening remarks by Biden and Xi as their entourages settled in across from each other at a long conference table. Biden was flanked by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
"It's good to see you again," Biden told Yi at the beginning of his remarks. "We spent many hours together over the last 10 or 12 years and to host you in the United States is a great pleasure."
Biden spoke of overcoming the sharp differences and thawing the often-tense relationship between the two countries.
"We have to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict. We also have to manage it responsibly, the competition," said Biden. "That's what the United States wants and what we intend to do. That's what the world wants, a candid exchange."
In his opening remarks, Xi also acknowledged the countries' strained relationship and said he hoped the meeting would lead to cooperation.
"Coming here I thought of your trip to China when I was the vice president of China. We had a meeting; it was 12 years ago. I still remember our interactions vividly. A lot has happened since then," XI said, mentioning the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recovery.
"The China-U.S. relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world," Xi added.
Xi also said that the world is big enough for the two countries to succeed and said he hoped the two nations would coexist and find a path to get along, believing the future of the bilateral relationship will improve.
Wednesday evening, President Biden talked about what he called a "productive meeting" with Xi.
The meeting was a chance to ease tensions and send a message that the global superpowers may be rivals, but are not looking for conflict.
One agreement between two nations focused on the drug crisis, specifically addressing the deadly drug fentanyl.
"With this new understanding, we're taking action to significantly reduce the flow of precursor chemicals and pill presses from China to the Western Hemisphere," President Biden said at the Wednesday evening press conference. "It's going to save lives, and I appreciate President Xi's commitment."
The Filoli Historic House was said to have met Xi's expectations for a private meeting with Biden away from the main APEC summit venue in San Francisco.
"It appears to be a quiet, secluded estate, where Biden and Xi can have an intimate conversation in a relaxed environment," said Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund. "Importantly, the venue is not connected to the APEC summit, so it provides the appearance that the two leaders are having a bilateral summit that is distinct from the multilateral APEC summit."
Bay City News and Associated Press contributed to this report.